2000-2001

WPI Professor is Newest History of Science Society Vice President

WORCESTER, Mass. - Michael M. Sokal of Worcester, a professor of
history at Worcester Polytechnic Institute, was recently elected vice
president of the History of Science Society. With a membership of over
3,700 individuals and institutions around the globe, the HSS is the
world's oldest and largest organization dedicated to understanding
science, technology and medicine and their interactions with society
in a historical context. Through its publications and other activities
the society provides scholars, decision-makers and the public with
historical perspectives on science policy and the potential
achievements and limitations of basic and applied science.

In 1988, Sokal became the society's first executive
secretary. During his five-year tenure in that post, the HSS executive
office was located at WPI and the society's programs were greatly
expanded. He will serve the HSS as vice president in 2002 and 2003 and
as president in 2004 and 2005. "In many ways, my election exemplifies
how WPI has evolved during the past two or three decades," says
Sokal. "Through the efforts of all segments of the WPI community, its
students and professors now play a greater role than ever before in
the scientific and scholarly life of the nation and the world. I'm
pleased and proud to be part of this trend and, as HSS vice president
and president, I hope to introduce many to all that WPI does so
uniquely and so well."

A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., Sokal graduated from Stuyvesant High
School and holds a B.E. in electrical engineering from The Cooper
Union and an M.A. and Ph.D. in the history of science and technology
from Case Western Reserve University. A faculty member since 1970, he
is one of three authors of The Establishment of
Science in America, which focuses on 150 years of the American
Association for the Advancement of Science and is the editor of
History of Psychology, a quarterly journal of the American
Psychological Association. From 1998 through 2000 he was program
director for science and technology studies at the National Science
Foundation, where he oversaw all NSF grant-making for research and
training in history, philosophy and social studies of science and
technology.

Founded in 1865, WPI was a pioneer in technological higher
education. Early on, it developed an influential curriculum that
balanced theory and practice. Since 1970, that philosophy has been
embodied in an innovative outcomes-oriented undergraduate
program. With a network of project centers that spans the globe, the
university is also the leader in globalizing technological
education.